


You Only Live Twice

by babesrgrs



Series: The Future is Now [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, M/M, Other, Post-Endgame, Self-cest, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:21:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babesrgrs/pseuds/babesrgrs
Summary: Returning the stones leads Steve into taking a more pro-active role in the 2012 alternate timeline than he probably should. Returning the stones leads Steve into taking a more pro-active role in the life of his younger counterpart than he probably should.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Steve Rogers
Series: The Future is Now [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720798
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	You Only Live Twice

**Author's Note:**

> This might be more of a first chapter than a first part of a series, but I don't want to start another WIP right now so. It's what it is, and what it is is my attempt at throwing some little plot to be able to give Steve the lover he deserves: himself. Not betaed.

The Mind Stone was the last of the Infinity Stones Steve needed to return: he'd gone about returning them almost chronologically, except that he'd started from Camp Lehigh and then gone to Vormir and Morag, then to Asgard and now, again, back to New York in 2012. He'd returned the Time Stone to the Ancient One – easiest one by far – and now he needed to put the Mind Stone back and then he was done.

He was not completely sure about the exact time when he had fought himself. If he was lucky, he would get to Stark Tower while his past self was still out cold and he could leave the stone by his body. His past self might not realize what exactly it was upon finding it, but Thor would. Returning the stone like that would certainly raise a lot of questions, but since Loki had gotten the Tesseract and his past self had seen his future self and mistaken him for Loki, that timeline was already changed considerably. There was a big possibility that the Mind Stone would fall into the Hydra's hands again, but as likely was that Thor would insist taking it to Asgard.

If Thor would take the stone, this world might not ever have powered Wanda and Pietro or Vision at all but at the same time, Ultron might never happen. It felt like there were pros and cons about every different outcome Steve could think of. Nobody knew what would happen; Steve couldn't know what would happen and thankfully, it wasn't his job to think about the what-ifs. The important thing was to get the stone there. The rest would sort itself out.

The lobby of the Tower was still full of bustle when Steve got to the premises. Heart hurting he could see Tony sitting up surrounded by SHIELD far off on the other side, Thor trying to talk Hulk down. He had foregone the Captain America get-up, since this time he hoped to not be seen by anyone. Instead, he had programmed the nano-tech suit to resemble a law enforcement uniform. Everyone was too busy to look twice at an officer who looked like they knew what they were doing.

He got to an elevator without being seen and took it to the fourth floor, one of the empty office levels he had grappled with his past self in after falling down ten levels from the 14th floor, according to his eidetic memory. It was a relief to see his own body still in place, still in that awkward, face-down slump that had left his behind in a slightly elevated position. _Tony and his obsession with my backside_ , Steve sighed mentally. Had Tony not been so obviously preoccupied with his on-and-off relationship with Pepper, Steve would have thought him interested. The thought of Tony was still tinged with sorrow, similar to the raw ache he felt about Nat. It was difficult to swallow that Steve had lost them both, too. With most of the lost people back, with Sam back alive and Bucky back alive, Steve knew he should have been perhaps more elated. Yet even now Steve wondered if it wasn't his lot in life to lose everybody he had ever cared about, at least once, some of them several times.

Looking down at his younger self he found himself simultaneously envious that that man hadn't lived through the snap and compassionate about the acute distress he remembered feeling so shortly after having been defrosted.

Sorrow and the whole absurdity of the situation constricting his throat, he rummaged for the soul stone in his utility belt. Hoping he wasn't going to make things too difficult for his past self, he crouched down and placed the stone in his past self's hand.

Jokingly, almost as if in a tribute to Tony, he patted himself lightly on the butt before getting up.

He was concentrating on programming the timer when a hand gripped his ankle.

”Stop.”

Steve didn't know if maybe his younger self had somehow gotten a boost from the Mind Stone or if it was something else, but he took his hand off the timer and let it fall to his side.

Past him got quickly to his feet and looked at Steve confusedly. ”Loki?”

Steve shook his head. ”I'm not Loki. I'm a friend.”

”We'll see about that,” past Steve said, clearly gearing up for a new confrontation.

Steve did his best to stay still. ”I swear on Bucky's life, I'm not your enemy and I am not here to cause any more trouble.”

The mention of Bucky was like a slap to his past self's face. ”What do you know about him? Who are you? Why – why do wear my face?” He demanded.

Steve weighed his options. He needed only a few seconds to get out of here, but with his past self merely a few feet from him, he couldn't get the peace needed to use the timer. His options seemed to be to either fight or talk himself out of this. If he fought he might lose and get his suit and the Pym particles confiscated. 

”I know it won't make much sense and I can't tell you everything, but I am an alternate version of you.”

” _Alternate_ version – what?”

”I needed to borrow the stone inside Loki's scepter. I came back to return it,” he said and glanced meaningfully at the stone still in his past self's grip.

Past Steve looked down at the stone. He looked back at Steve and seemed to take in the fact that he had had a change of clothes and didn't have the scepter anymore. ”How long was I out?”

Steve shrugged. ”Maybe a few minutes. But time has passed a bit differently for me.”

The past Steve's left hand twitched, he was obviously planning to contact his team.

”Test me, before you call them. That I am who I claim I am. I can't get caught here.”

Past him was as expected, skeptical, but had the one weakness all the same. ”Tell me what you know about Bucky.”

Steve had known it would come to this the moment he had felt the hand on his ankle. Or maybe he had known about it even before. Maybe, he thought, with this world already so different, it wouldn't hurt to change it a bit more. He knew how wretched and rotten it had felt to understand that he had worked two years for the same organization that had done all the horrible things to Bucky. Maybe he could right this one wrong.

Steve heard the elevator was called down. Somebody might come to look for Steve soon.

”Not here. Meet me – ”

”I can't let you go – ” his past self interrupted.

Steve repeated: ”Meet me in the alley behind the bar that looks like what Mr. Robertson from downstairs tried to do with his sorry enterprise.”

Past Steve looked stunned. That was a thought he had often had about Old Farm but never said to anyone. Who would he have shared an observation like that with? About a pub in Brooklyn and a guy more than likely over 50 years dead? But that seemed to do the trick.

”Alright. Midnight.”

Steve nodded. ”I can't tell you what to say, but I'd not tell the whole truth about this to anyone else.”

”About you?”

”Yeah. Maybe say that Loki had stolen the scepter and you fought but the scepter broke, releasing the stone. He escaped but you kept the stone.”

”Alright,” his past self acquiesced.

Steve took a careful step back but when his past self didn't seem to try to stop him, turned around and went for the stairs. ”Don't trust anyone,” he added before taking off.

Even though the wreckage had mostly stayed in Manhattan, the Old Farm had closed its doors for the night at least, the whole of New York completely shocked by the alien invasion. The streets were empty as well, not that many would have paid a lot of attention to Steve with his hood up and a cap pulled tightly down to cover the top of his face. His younger self, on the other hand, hadn't quite learned the art of blending in, his hair coiffed perfectly, face bare and his clothes giving an old-fashioned vibe, as Natasha had once so kindly pointed out to him.

”Were you followed?” Steve asked, first things first.

”I don't think so, but I'm afraid I'm not up to speed with all the ways you can follow somebody nowadays.”

Steve nodded and held out his wrist with the timer. On top of lot of other features the Stark-tech piece had a scanner for bugs as well. ”Nobody's at least listening to us,” he said. ”Let's walk.”

They walked in silence for a good while. Steve noticed the younger him glancing at him every once in a while, probably still getting used to the idea that he was hanging around with himself.

”Is it going to be like this all the time now?”

”Like what?”

The past Steve explained: ”Aliens, gods, alternate versions of myself, portals.”

Steve chuckled. ”I vividly remember it getting a bit odd in the 40s as well.”

Unconsciously the younger Steve rested his hand atop his chest, probably remembering the supersoldier procedure and how good it had felt after the horrible pain, how honest to God pleasurable it had been to get a real deep breath with his new lungs, how different his body had felt to his own hands.

”I take it that you believe me now,” Steve said then. ”That I'm also Steve Rogers.”

”I don't know. I want to believe it. I suppose this could still be a trick, but I don't think you're Loki. I don't think he could play me so well. He thinks I'm a mindless soldier. And how I see it, you don't need me to believe you to wreak havoc if you really aren't what you say you are. If you're a powerful alien, why come after me? Why come back? And if there's a chance you're telling the truth and Buck's alive... I gotta take that chance.”

Steve took a deep breath. ”Bucky, he survived the fall. Zola had experimented with him and he has a version of the serum in him. He was taken, by the Russians. He was broken, tortured, brainwashed so that he didn't for years and years remember who he was. He was made into a weapon. At some point the Hydra got him. They survived, as well,” Steve explained, sad and tired about the whole gruesome history of corruption and violence and evil.

Younger him had stopped in his tracks, eyes wide, and a stricken look on his face like he'd gotten the worst news of his life. He had. ”Where is he?” He asked when he got his voice back.

”I don't know for sure – ”

”Where is he?” younger Steve had recovered and now had steel in his eyes.

Steve put his hand on the other man's shoulder. ”I don't know exactly. But I promise I will help you get him back.”

The promise came easily even if he hadn't really planned for this. Not explicitly so. Steve knew his job was done and he could return to his own time, wherever that was. Yet, he felt like he couldn't leave this be. They had intervened more than they had meant to and they had put this world into a new path. He hadn't been a complete bystander and that made him in a way responsible for this place, as well. And it was Bucky, after all.

”What do we do?”

”We'll lay low, gather information and get a couple of allies. To get Bucky we have to take down Hydra as well. They have infiltrated SHIELD.” 

”Fury?”

”No. Nick's not a part of it, but his superior is. Strike team is. Sitwell is. Natasha and Clint aren't.”

Younger Steve seemed relieved. ”Okay. Good. We can trust them? The Avengers?”

Steve smiled. ”Yes.”

It had taken them a better part of the night for Steve to get his younger self up to speed with Hydra and Bucky. He told him that he had pretended to be part of Hydra to get the scepter from the Strike team. For the time being, they hoped the story about Loki stealing the scepter would fly with them. 

He didn't tell him about all the other things that had come to pass in his timeline, but he did give a vague picture of the threat Thanos posed.

It was over three o'clock in the morning when Steve noticed the other to uncharacteristically stumble in his steps. Steve remembered the wound he'd taken to stomach in the fight and how it had taken several days for it to heal completely, how Steve hadn't gotten anybody to look at it and how completely, incredibly tired he had been when the dust had settled after the fight.

”You need to sleep.”

A testament to his exhaustion was how the other man didn't pretend otherwise. ”Yeah, I suppose. I'm a few blocks from here. Which you of course knew.”

”Your flat is probably bugged.”

Past him stopped in his tracks. ”Of course, it is.”

Steve decided that for now, a room from a hotel would be enough for a night or two, at least. They found a place that was open. Steve's face wasn't as of yet known to everybody unless you happened to take your history class seriously so the receptionist most likely didn't recognize Steve when he booked a room. The other Steve stayed back and sneaked in later since being so identical would have caught the clerk's attention.

Inside the room, Steve beckoned the other man to lift his shirt up. ”I can put something better on the wound than just a bandage from your first-aid kit.”

Younger him clearly wanted to object, but either the exhaustion or the realization that there was little point in trying to bullshit himself made him scrap that plan. He unbuttoned his shirt and took that as well as the undershirt off and laid them neatly on top of his leather jacket on the chair.

There was a bit of blood that had seeped through the bandage.

”Lie down on the bed,” Steve instructed.

His younger self did so after taking the time to take his shoes off, as well.

To get the wound foam from his nano-tech utility belt Steve had to reprogram his clothes a bit, so that the belt became visible.

”I haven't seen that before,” the other man commented.

”This is from the 2023, though to be fair, not many have seen it then either.”

After washing his hands he gently removed the bandage from his younger self's stomach. The wound was clearly on the mend, but the alien tech had cut him deep. ”I know I'm basically calling myself out, but you are slightly irresponsible about your own health.”

The past Steve laughed. ”You mean, we are shit at taking care of ourselves?”

Steve felt his mouth twist in a smile. ”Maybe,” he said and sprayed the foam into the cut. It formed a breathable, protective layer on it while, as far as Steve understood, nanoparticles hastened the healing process.

”Oh,” the other Steve said.

Steve raised his eyebrow. ”Hmm?”

”It doesn't hurt anymore, that's all.”

Steve did not roll his eyes. But he did get a new appreciation for Sam's patience. He went to use the bathroom. While still there, he retracted the nano suit completely to the quantum watch leaving him with his undershirt and soft slacks that he had underneath. He removed his shoes and socks, too, so he was ready to sleep himself. He'd gotten very little rest since he began his time trip.

When he got back the other Steve wasn't blacked out yet, like Steve had assumed, but was sitting on the edge of the bed with a somber look on his face.

”You alright?” Steve asked.

The younger man glanced at him, looked away. After a long silence: ”I just thought about what you said. That Bucky is somewhere either kept frozen or taken out, electrocuted and forced to murder people and it's been going on the whole time I was – away. The 70 years, it felt incomprehensible to me, that a person could just lose so much time. To have gone through what Bucky's gone through for that _long_? I don't know. How do you survive? I had him with me less than a month ago. I had him and I let him fall. I – ” here Steve's voice broke and he covered his eyes.

Seeing himself crumble Steve remembered how recent everything was for this Steve. How could he have forgotten? This Steve had nobody here and he had barely come to grips with what had happened to him. And now this?

Steve went with his instincts and sat down next to his past self and pulled him into a hug. Steve knew the past him hadn't really even touched another person since he'd woken up, not like this. There hadn't been anyone to try to have a genuine human connection with.

The other man turned to him like he was starving for contact. It didn't matter that in a way he was hugging himself, because that wasn't really true. They were both complete, separate human beings, and while Steve had been the man in his arms over a decade ago, with everything he had lived through after, he had changed. He was older, maybe a bit wiser, wearier definitely, but also, he thought, more comfortable in his own skin. He had mellowed somewhat, too. Comforting the younger man he remembered how on edge he had been the first months in the future, how hard, at times, it had been to rein his temperament in.

Looking at the younger man from an outside point of view now, he was feeling pride how strong this man was. He was glad to be able to be here for this version of himself.

”It's going to be alright,” he murmured. ”I promise.”

The younger Steve gave a teary chuckle. ”You'd probably know.”

”I would,” Steve said.

The younger Steve sat back and wiped his eyes. ”Sorry about that. I've never done that before.”

”I know.”

”Thank you.”

Steve shook his head. ”You know there's no need for thanks between us.”

Now it was the past Steve's turn to shake his head. ”No. You don't really have to be here. What I've understood you've fought your battles already and having saved your Bucky... I don't know how you can bear to live through it again. Know I am thankful for all this.”

”Well,” Steve said, going for a lighter tone since he had tried his best to keep a certain distance to this place in his mind, not letting himself think about the possibility of maybe having to fight Bucky again, ”I suppose I owed you one for having beaten you up.”

The younger man pretended to be affronted. ”Oh yeah? You call that beating me up? The only reason why you walked out of that fight was that you manipulated me and then used a magical artifact to take me out.”

”That's called experience,” Steve said smugly.

”Experience, huh?” The younger man said and gave Steve a quick once-over.

Steve suddenly remembered how Scott had joked pre-time-heist that they should not, in any circumstances, meet their past selves since that would inevitably lead to either a fight or – a _fuck_. Steve repressed that memory quickly. It had obviously been a reference to some obscure contemporary sci-fi-show or so. Nothing to concern oneself with.

The younger man shook his head and declared that it was finally time for bed. He had planned to go and meet the team next day again, but that was only later in the day. They could sleep late. Steve had booked the room for one but the bed was a king-size so it fit two supersoldiers easily enough.

The last thing that crossed Steve's mind before sleep took him was that they _had_ fought the first time they had met.

Steve woke up with the certainty that it had been around eight hours since he'd gone asleep: having a very reliable internal clock was one of the perks of the serum and army training. Eight hours was very rare for him and he felt refreshed. His counterpart was still breathing deep enough that Steve was confident he was still asleep without needing to look over to him.

The first thing he did out of the bed was call for room service. He tried to not be too ostentatious with his order but asked for almost one of everything from the breakfast menu and a pot of coffee. The order arrived around the same time he was coming out of the bathroom, having had a long shower. With a towel tied to his hips, he opened the door, certain being half-naked would help to get rid of the waiter easily enough without them insisting to get inside with the order. 

”Wow. Your shirt finally decided to retire?” Tony Stark asked, blinking at him over his blue-shaded sunglasses.

It was safe to say it wasn't the room service. Steve felt stupid for not having been more careful. Tony was a bit better than a SHIELD agent, but he hadn't really decided how to handle the rest of the team. Should he reveal his existence to them or should he help the other Steve independently?

He needed to make the decision urgently. Tony didn't yet know there were two of them. Should he pretend to be the other Steve? He decided to buy a bit of time.

”This is not the best time, Tony,” he said. ”I thought we were meeting only later.”

”Something came up,” Tony said and tried to walk in. Steve didn't budge from his place and make room. Tony stopped in his tracks and gave him an annoyed look. Jeez, that felt nostalgic.

”What? You have somebody in here?” He asked amusedly. ”Come now, no way you would have celebrated with a hook-up.”

Steve was lost for excuses and Tony took his silence the wrong way. ”Oh my God. Really? Cap, I'm scandalized.”

”It's not like that,” he said between gritted teeth. 

”Then _let me in_.”

”Let him in,” the other Steve said from the bed.

Tony gave him a look when he heard the other male voice. Steve sighed and stepped back to let Tony in. So much for a late start and a slow morning.

”Steve?” Tony asked, alarmed.

”Yes?” Both of them answered, without meaning to.

Tony raised his arm. ”Okay, before I take the big guns out, answer me is either one of you Loki?”

”No,” they both said, again simultaneously.

”Is either of you the real Captain America?”

”Yes,” they answered.

”Cloning? Alternate dimension? Time travel?”

”Cloning, no. Time travel, yes,” Steve answered reluctantly, hoping he wasn't making a big mistake. But, he reasoned, Steve already knew and this world wasn't that far from time travel technology anyway.

Tony turned to him, incredulous. ” _What?_ That's impossible. That's literally not possible. It's not, is it?”

The note of concern and hope in Tony's voice soothed Steve's annoyance a lot. He had considered Tony an important part of his life and he had certainly cared about him a lot, but the man brought trouble with him, and meeting people he'd lost in his own time was a bittersweet experience.

”It's not impossible, but you'll understand I won't be able to explain it to you, even if I understood it well enough.”

Skeptical, Tony squinted at him. ”So why are you here? Let me guess, you came here to warn us about a portal in the sky and space whales destroying New York? A bit late for that, but thanks, I suppose.”

Steve shook his head. ”No, that's not why I'm here. I borrowed something from here and now I came to bring it back. In the process, I accidentally met my past self and, well. I revealed something and I thought I might try to help to sort out the consequences.”

Tony scoffed. ”That's not vague at all. What exactly did you borrow?”

”Loki's scepter,” the other Steve answered.

Tony took that in. ”So you didn't fight Loki, but this guy here?” He asked the other Steve, who nodded. ”So you lied?”

The younger Steve shrugged. ”I did. I found all this hard to explain. And I wasn't sure who to trust with this.”

”Well, I don't know, maybe the people who you saved the world with?” Tony countered.

”It's complicated. It's not just about me,” past Steve shoot back. 

”Yeah! If there's a time traveler stealing dangerous weapons it concerns all of us!”

Steve was weirdly surprised how quickly the 2012 iterations of him and Tony got to raising their voices. The younger Steve finally got out of the bed and let Tony know that he'd done the best call he could with the limited knowledge he had. He'd obviously kicked his trousers off at night since he had nothing but his boxers on. 

Tony was momentarily taken aback by the near-nudity and forgot about the thread of the debate. ”Did I interrupt something?” He asked and looked back and forth between the identical musculature on display.

The younger Steve had the misfortune to blush from the implication and before Steve could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

”That would be the room service,” he noted dryly and went to open the door after gesturing the two men to keep it quiet.

After the food came they sat down, both Steves having put some clothes on, and Steve explained the gist of it all to Tony. That SHIELD was corrupted, bent on world domination, and that they had kept Bucky Barnes as a brainwashed prisoner for the better part of the century.

One reason why Steve had wished to keep his distance from the rest of the team was the inevitable question of Tony's parents and the fact that he lacked the will to go through it again. But now he knew about them for certain and he knew there would never really be a right time to tell Tony. Hoping he wouldn't regret it, he decided to wait until he could get Tony somewhere alone.

The rest of it, the explanation, Tony seemed to take easily enough though he understandably had still some skepticism left over the whole time travel part of it.

”You understand we will have to make tests to become sure you are who you say you are,” Tony said, at last.

Steve nodded, accepting what was inevitable. 

After a lull in the conversation, the younger Steve asked Tony why had he originally come to find him.

”Oh, that. Well, Thor took a look at the stone you brought after he returned from meeting his girlfriend this morning. Apparently it's part of the same set as the Tesseract, he called it the – ”

”Mind Stone,” Steve said.

”Yes, that,” Tony said. ”It seemed odd that Loki had the Tesseract and the Mind Stone and that he stopped to have a fight with you, lose the Mind Stone and flee. So, I came to find you to ask if there was anything you left out.”

”I see,” the other Steve said, not bothering to ask how Tony had found him. He had been here only some weeks but it seemed you could be spied on through all kinds of little electronic devices that were everywhere.

They decided to return to the Tower together and Tony called them a car. Tony seemed to go a bit cross-eyed when he witnessed Steve using the nano-watch to materialize a nondescript outfit for himself on top of his undershirt and slacks. So maybe Steve did it on purpose to have the power of more advanced technology over Tony, but he kinda felt that he was owed that after all the years of being the one who either was uninformed about the developments in technology or who was assumed to be ignorant even if he wasn't. Sue him.

In the Stark Tower, they were met with the rest of the team, Tony having called them together earlier than planned. For the third time in the last 24 hours, Steve explained who he was and why he was there.

All of them seemed wary, Natasha and Clint reluctant to believe SHIELD was compromised. Steve did his best not to break down at the sight of Natasha. She was so – young, somehow. It was funny because he'd always thought Natasha was a step ahead of him, and if not exactly more mature than him, then at least far less naive than him. But now? She seemed to him so fresh-faced.

Bruce, somehow, was the least suspicious of them all. 

”Oh, well. This is the best explanation so far for Steve's confrontations with the – other Steve? We thought it would have been odd for it to have been Loki.” Bruce said.

”But we don't know exactly what went down there,” Natasha pointed out. ”Steve, no offense, lied once already. He could be under mind control.”

”No offense taken,” the past Steve said.

Bruce went to the computer interface in the room. ”We do know what went down there. JARVIS had a recording; it's not complete and has no sound, but the picture is very high definition.”

”I'm an idiot,” Tony muttered.

Bruce chuckled and pressed play. A hologram screen in the middle of the room showed first Loki's scepter and then Steve and the other Steve falling down to the floor from above with glass falling everywhere.

Intrigued and somewhat impressed Steve watched the fight play out much as he remembered. The younger Steve getting confused first by the compass with Peggy's picture in it, then trying and almost succeeding to choke Steve until he mentioned Bucky and thwarted the other man. They saw him take the compass (here Bruce had zoomed in so they all saw it had Peggy in it), the scepter and then take a good look of his younger self's figure on the ground.

”What'd he say?” Clint asked.

”The video shows assumed Captain Rogers's face only partially so I was not able to parse the sentence,” JARVIS answered.

Steve tried to keep his face expressionless, remembering his remark about America's ass. He blamed Tony and Scott.

He blamed them even more when not long after he came back on the video, dressed differently this time, and crouched beside the body and they all saw him place the stone in Steve's hand and also pat his buttocks.

”I will pretend I didn't see that,” Clint commented. Steve felt his counterpart glancing at him and the other Avengers changing looks, but he decidedly kept looking forward.

Soon the video was over, with the younger Steve letting him go.

”I didn't believe him at first, but he told me something I have only ever thought, never said aloud. And I wanted to believe he was telling the truth, because of Bucky. Now that I've spent the whole last night with him, it's hard for me to doubt he's who he says he is. He knows so much and he understands so well,” the other Steve said.

Thor, who had stayed mostly silent until now stepped close to Steve and said: ”I'm not convinced.” He then raised hand on Steve's shoulder, holding the Mind Stone in his other hand. ”Reveal yourself,” he commanded.

Steve trembled from the shock that ran through his body. There was nothing to do, he wasn't hiding anything, he wasn't covering anything – with that thought he pressed the quantum watch and let the nano-suit retract so he was left in his undergarments.

”Was that – was that _nanotechnology_?” Bruce asked, dumbfounded.

”Yes,” Steve answered, feeling bare even if he, thank God, had slacks and an undershirt on.

”Goodness gracious.”

Thor shook his head. ”You aren't half as impressed when I put my armor on.”

”Well, yes,” Bruce started, ”But that's not Asgardian, is it?” He gestured towards Steve's bracelet.

”No, Tony made it,” Steve said.

”I knew it,” Tony whispered.

Knowing that they would find out in short enough time if Steve was lying about the SHIELD corruption, the Avengers figured they had little to lose to go along. And, anyway, after the nuke fired into New York they were quite ready to believe there was something fishy going on. So after all of that the team believed him, though Tony had JARVIS scan him and compare the data to the other Steve's results. Turned out they were near identical except that Steve's test had him a few years older. 

”I'm actually over a decade older,” he pointed out.

”You're almost forty?” Bruce asked. ”So that would be close to me and Tony in age. Bless the serum, I suppose.”

”So it slows down aging?” The younger Steve asked.

”Yeah, barring any non-natural causes of death, you'll easily reach well past your 100th. Assuming it doesn't lose it's effectiveness, of course. You'll probably be a record-breaker,” Bruce said distractedly.

The younger Steve didn't seem to rejoice from the news.

”What are you so woeful about?” Tony asked. ”You just learned you'll keep your abs until the rest of us are crypt keepers, boohoo. I'm 42 and I have to color in the grey.”

The younger Steve made a non-committal sound and excused himself.

”What's with him? You know him, explain,” Tony turned to Steve.

Steve sighed. ”I assume he hadn't realized he'll outlive everybody, and by a big margin. It's not the most comforting thought taking into consideration he just lost his world.”

Tony seemed to actually think it over. ”Ok, I understand. So. We'll save Bucky Barnes, he has probably similar life expectancy and they can convene in 2150 and play bingo, go on a cruise and obsess over the weather.”

Bruce smiled. Steve knew this was his moment. ”Tony, could we talk in private?” He asked.

”If you want to give me a speech about being more considerate towards the elderly, count me out. I promise to play nice.”

”Tony, come with me,” Steve ordered and turned to go.

”He's not my boss,” he heard Tony tell Bruce. Then: ”For fuck's sake.”

”You're not my boss,” Tony said to Steve in the penthouse.

”No, but I've known you a lot longer you have known me, and it makes me feel like I have certain freedoms when it comes to you.”

”So, what? We're best buds in the future?” Tony asked, nonchalantly, but Steve knew now that underneath all the snarking and sniping and sometimes straightforward meanness Tony actually hoped to be his friend.

Steve laughed, ”No comment. I can't tell how everything goes in my time, this place is different already.”

”But Barnes is something you will change?”

”He's being kept a prisoner this very moment. That's different. I'm not trying to have things go as they went in my time, I'm helping your Steve save the closest person to him.”

Tony poured himself a drink. ”Alright. So what did you want?”

Steve took a deep breath. ”I have something to tell you that will be extremely hard to take. I understand if having this information will make you want to not help us. But I hope you won't take it out on the other Steve. He has no part in it.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. ”O–kay. Don't tell me, you went back in time to the 70s and slept with my mom?”

Steve opened his mouth, distraught.

”What? This is how these things usually go, haven't you watched Back to the Future? Oh my God, are you my father?”

”Tony, please, I'm serious,” Steve said.

”I'm serious, too. It's obvious to me that it's impossible to travel in time and not do something sexually questionable, though seeing how close you've been with your younger self and his derrière, I suppose chances are my mom's safe.”

”Oh, Tony,” Steve sighed. He sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room. Tony hovered next to it with the glass in his hand.

”What? Don't deny there's something going on between the two of you. Not that I'm judging, I mean, I would. It's masturbation, basically. I think. You'd probably actually know. Is it like masturbation?”

Steve didn't rise to the bait. ”Tony, won't you sit down?”

”I'm good here, thanks. I've heard you fondle unsuspecting victims.”

Steve looked at Tony, holding onto his glass like a security blanket, obviously nervous but hoping he could bullshit his way out of the situation. If Steve got angry, maybe he would drop the subject.

Steve saw through it, ignored it, and then explained it all.

After he'd got it all out, Tony was very still, the whiskey long forgotten. Finally: ”You said he's kept inside ice between – between sending him to kill people?”

Steve nodded: ”Yes.”

”I downloaded a lot of data off SHIELD when we were on the helicarrier. I can put JARVIS go through it and look for possible trails to cryogenic containment.”

Steve was wary of the peacefulness of Tony's reaction but said a heartfelt thank you all the same.

”I'm very sorry, Tony,” Steve said, then, mostly because it was true but also because he hoped a clearer reaction from the man.

”Sure,” Tony answered.

Steve stood up. ”Do you want me to leave?”

Tony swallowed, looked away. ”I don't really care at this moment that much where you want to take yourself and your boy toy.”

There it was. Steve pondered for a moment leaving, but experience told him people who lashed out didn't necessarily want to be left alone. He decided to try something he had never done with Tony, regrettably maybe since it was too late now in his time. So perhaps this was a bit for himself as well.

He stepped closer and took the drinking glass away from Tony's grip. Tony let it go but looked at him dubiously.

Having set the glass on the ground he slowly pulled Tony to a hug. Tony came reluctantly, but at least he didn't fight back. Steve held him for several minutes, occasionally gently petting his back. Tony didn't cry, but at times he got very rigid like he was fighting a burst of tears. 

Finally, he felt Tony starting to pull back and so he let him go. Tony looked at him guardedly. ”Let's not ever mention this again. Ever.”

”Do you want me to call Pepper?” Steve asked.

”No,” Tony said. Then: ”No, I will call her.”

”Okay. You know where I am if you need me.”

”Noted.”

”Listen,” Tony started just when Steve was calling the elevator up. ”This will probably take me a while to swallow, but I'm not – you don't have to be afraid I'm going to... do anything rash.”

Steve nodded. ”Thank you, Tony.”

When he got to his rooms he slumped against the door. It had been another long day.

”Long day?” The other Steve asked, like reading his mind, from where he was looking outside the floor-length window. Of course, his rooms were actually the other Steve's rooms. Nobody had assumed they might need separate ones. Well, Steve himself didn't think they did and he kind of felt that his counterpart appreciated the company. _He_ kinda appreciated the company.

”You could say so.”

”Want to talk about it?”

”I don't know. Not particularly. Sometimes it just feels like I'm going from one problem to another, from one mistake to another, from one loss to another.”

”Sorry for hightailing out of there, before,” the younger Steve said.

”It's fine. Tony can get a bit much sometimes and I got the possibility to tell him something important.”

”Oh?” The younger Steve asked, curious.

Of course, it was important for the other Steve to know so Steve told him this part of the whole sorry tale, as well. He hadn't realized what a harbinger for bad news he'd become when he volunteered for the time-traveling gig. He could see how this, too, hurt the other man.

”They made him kill Howard? Do you think they know? Who Bucky is?” He asked, angry and sad.

Steve remembered how Crossbones had taunted him about Bucky, but he wasn't sure if they'd known the whole time. Had the Strike team known the whole time they worked together that they had them both – one brainwashed and forced to do their bidding with awful violence, the other they had tricked working for them voluntarily? 

”I don't know. Some of them, probably. They had Arnim Zola work for them.”

The younger Steve shook his head, obviously deciding it was enough for now. 

”Let's continue the discussion tomorrow,” Steve said, feeling similarly. He needed a change of clothes and started to strip. He went to the bedroom to look for a new T-shirt to sleep in.

The other Steve had followed him into the room.

”Clint asked me earlier if it isn't really weird seeing your own double. Sure it is, but it also isn't. People have twins and I never see myself from the same point of view I see you. The weird part is to know you have been me. That you have had the same experiences and that you have had the exact same thoughts,” he said. ”That at times, you probably _are having_ the exact same thoughts.”

They were looking at each other now, standing about five feet from one another. Steve was having a certain kind of thought just then. Kinda difficult not to, with Tony talking about it all the time. He was pretty sure that it was what the younger Steve was thinking, too.

The thing was, Steve didn't think it was vanity. Had someone asked him to list the top ten hottest men or something, he wouldn't have thought to name himself. But he had always liked men as well as women and he had always liked broad shoulders and the classical v-shape of a man's back – who didn't – and, _and_ – while he felt at home in his body, very much so, the sudden transformation he'd gone through made it difficult at times to not see his body from an outside perspective. This on top of the fact that they _were_ two different people. It was hard to view the younger Steve as himself, because simply put, he wasn't.

So, while he wasn't romantically interested, he couldn't deny that he was curious. He couldn't deny that he was sexually interested.

Steve was wondering how to bring up the matter: if there was one thing he knew he wasn't good at, it was propositioning sex –

”So, do you wanna do it?” The younger man asked, voice low.

Well. Steve laughed out loud, almost shocked at the straightforwardness. Apparently you could surprise yourself. ”Yeah,” he smiled. ”I wanna do it.”

”Thank God,” the other man said, ”imagine if you found out you are the perverted one.”

”You've been thinking about this?” Steve asked, amused.

”Hard not to, when you prance around shirtless all the time.”

He _was_ shirtless, that was true. ”You've seen this before,” he teased, and crossed his arms, drawing attention to his pectorals and biceps.

The younger man walked to him and then around him. ”This, not so much,” he admitted.

Steve stayed in his position but turned his head to look back. Without much ceremony the younger man rested his hands on Steve's shoulders and let them fall down, tracing the length of his back. 

”Nor this,” the man said when his hands reached Steve's ass.

”You don't think it's narcissistic?” Steve asked jokingly.

The younger Steve took a step closer and pressed against him, placing his hands on Steve's hips. ”I don't think I care,” he confessed.

Steve laughed, but he understood. Of course, he did. He remembered the emptiness he'd felt during the first year after the ice. He had been too detached from others and too conscious of the fact that he wouldn't be any good to anyone else to try to fill the void with relationships or sex, but it didn't mean he hadn't ached to feel something else, something good, even if it was just for a moment.

This was such an unprecedented situation for anyone to be in that he couldn't say for sure, but he thought this was a good thing for the younger man. It had been him that had made the first move, showing actual interest, and now he was gently kissing the back of Steve's neck and alright – 

”That feels really good,” Steve sighed.

”Can I – you know I haven't done much of this. I'd like it if I could take my time, explore.”

”Whatever you want,” Steve promised.

The other Steve's hands found their way to the zipper of Steve's trousers, slow enough that Steve could have prevented it had he disagreed with the intention. He didn't.

After Steve had been helped out of his trousers and underwear the younger Steve turned him around and pushed him down onto the bed.

”You know, maybe it _is_ narcissistic,” he wondered aloud while taking in the whole of Steve's body.

”Won't you let me enjoy the view as well?” Steve suggested, starting to feel hot under the intense gaze of his counterpart.

Completely unabashed the other man stripped off all of his clothing and came to basically sit on Steve's lap. He guided Steve to lay fully down and then he bent to kiss him. It was weird how it wasn't weird. It was weird how the only thing Steve could think about was how soft and hot and demanding the younger man's mouth felt against his. It was weird how much the sound of the other Steve's moan incited him.

Soon, without much thought they had started a slow grinding rhythm against one another. Steve took a soft hold of the other's jaw to gently coax him to relax and slow down: the other man had wanted to take his time.

The younger Steve got the hint and after a couple, additional kisses leaned back.

Steve didn't have to break the eye contact they had to know that they both were hard.

The other Steve started to move down on Steve's body, kissing and tasting the skin of his neck, collar bones, chest, nipples and stomach. He was thorough, and when he was dipping his tongue in Steve's bellybutton – where did he get that idea? – Steve was simultaneously going a bit mad and starting to feel like their roles were reversed.

Shouldn't he have been doing the prolonged physical worship? He wasn't complaining, but being on the receiving end of such attention was starting to feel a bit selfish, especially since he was the one with age and experience on his side.

The other man was determined, though, and when Steve tried to sit up he pushed him back down. ”Let me,” he said, giving him a compelling look before concentrating his attention on Steve's inner thighs.

”Oh God,” Steve gasped.

Just when he thought the other man had had enough, he guided Steve to turn around and lie on his stomach. 

It had been a long time for Steve and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last these ministrations without losing his mind. He couldn't help himself and started to grind against the mattress with the other Steve's lips on his lower back, on his tailbone, on his buttocks.

”Steve, I need to,” he started to say and the younger man let him get on his knees, covered his body with his own and reached around to take a hold of his cock and Steve didn't even realize he'd addressed his counterpart by his name for the first time.

The feel of the other body against his back, the extended lead-up, and the perfect fucking touch on his cock resulted in Steve coming under a minute. It was good enough he felt it through his whole body and he took a few moments to just soak it in.

After coming down he reached for the bedside table to get tissues and wiped the mess and then, with a wrestling move, he reversed their places, maneuvering the younger Steve under him.

He looked like sex with his cock dripping, hair mussed, lips red and pupils blown. Steve was probably going to hell for at least four out of seven deadly sins for this, but Christ he looked good.

Steve started to jerk the other Steve's cock, a bit too softly so he wouldn't come just yet. The younger man grabbed Steve from his neck to pull him to a kiss. After languidly exploring the other man's mouth Steve went to kiss the man's neck. He looked for and found just the place underneath his ear that he knew would make him go crazy. It was obviously the trick so he tightened his grip on the man's cock and sped up the rhythm.

”You're so good,” he whispered and bit down on the skin.

The younger Steve moaned out loud, surprised, and came in hot spurts.

After, they took a shower together. Steve wanted to take care of the other man similarly to what he'd done to him in bed and took his time to wash him. Having rinsed the other man's hair Steve couldn't help himself and kissed the back of the man's shoulder.

The younger man turned to look at him, eyebrow raised. Steve smiled apologetically. Sure, they had been exchanging spit and other fluids in a passionate embrace just a few moments ago, but kissing here, now, with the urgency gone, was just on the wrong side of the line that separated depraved from the merely dubious. Kissing in the shower, in the ambient lighting of the luxurious bathroom was _romantic_.

”Sorry,” Steve breathed.

The other Steve turned around under the spray. He seemed to make up his mind about something, as far as Steve was able to read the familiar facial expressions. 

”I know it can't continue for long, you will have to go soon and it's not something either of us wants, not really. But maybe this night we'll pretend it's real,” he offered.

Steve answered by kissing the other man, this time leaving all doubts and reservations behind.

Tomorrow they would start to really search for Bucky and plan how to bring Hydra down. Tomorrow they would play it cool through all of Tony's insinuations and they would get through the teasing by exchanging knowing looks, by having this secret just for themselves. But tonight they could be for one another something both had missed and wanted even when they had been sure it was not in the cards for them. This night was theirs and, luckily, the night was young.


End file.
